Latest news with #Weiwei
Time Out
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
A new Ai Weiwei installation will cover Roosevelt Island in camouflage netting
This fall, the southern tip of Roosevelt Island will be swathed in camouflage netting, but not for military drills. World-renowned artist and activist Ai Weiwei is set to unveil 'Camouflage,' a monumental new installation at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park that marks both his return to New York and the launch of a new public art initiative: Art X Freedom. Opening on September 10 to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, 'Camouflage' will transform the park into a contemplative sanctuary draped in netting. Visitors will be able to contribute hand-written reflections on freedom, tying them to the fabric of the work in a gesture of collective memory and resistance. The installation will be on view on site through December 1, 2025. Weiwei, whose past NYC installations famously targeted immigration policies and state surveillance, described the project to the New York Times as 'a personal commentary on what is unfolding politically and culturally in our time.' At the center of the piece: a towering architectural structure rising above the bust of FDR, cloaked in mesh and inscribed with a stark Ukrainian proverb about the dual nature of war. The installation won't showcase your standard issue camo, but, instead, will feature a custom animal-print version boasting cats, a nod to a rescue center located near the park. 'I didn't want to use conventional military camouflage, because I find it personally repulsive,' the artist told the Times. 'We've all seen too much harm associated with that pattern—it's essentially a uniform that negates life.' The installation is the inaugural commission of Art X Freedom, a new program from the Four Freedoms Park Conservancy that invites artists to explore themes of liberty, human rights and justice. It's the first initiative of its kind to activate a presidential memorial as a platform for forward-looking contemporary expression. Future commissions will be awarded through an open call, with a $25,000 prize and realization support for the winning artist.
The Guardian
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Ai Weiwei installation to launch New York City social justice art program
Ai Weiwei is returning to New York with a new installation on Roosevelt Island. The Four Freedoms Park Conservancy announced on Thursday that it had commissioned the Chinese contemporary artist to help launch a new public art initiative in September. The new program, titled Art X Freedom, will invite artists to make site-specific projects that 'interrogate issues of social justice and freedom', according to a press release. Starting 10 September – a date concurrent with both the 80th session of the United Nations general assembly and the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war – the public can view Weiwei's installation Camouflage. The project comprises an open sanctuary and structure draped in camouflage netting, inviting viewers to consider questions of 'vulnerability and protection, truth and concealment, and the reverberating impacts of violent human conflicts around the world', according to the press release. It will be Weiwei's first major public artwork in New York since 2017, when he installed a series of cages around the city to protest against the first Trump administration's harsh immigration policies. The 67-year-old has long been one of the most politically outspoken artists of his generation, even in the face of government pressure over his criticism of its human rights violations. In 2010, the Chinese government held him in a secret detention center for 80 days and repeatedly interrogated him for charges of tax fraud. He left the country in 2015, and maintained studios all over the world, including in London and Berlin. He now lives and works in Portugal, and is currently the subject of a large retrospective at the Seattle Museum of Art including four decades of work. His new project at the Franklin D Roosevelt Four Freedoms state park, a place on the southernmost tip of Roosevelt Island that memorializes the 32nd president's famous speech on human rights, embodies the artist's 'personal commentary on what is unfolding politically and culturally in our time', Weiwei told the New York Times. It is the first commission by Art X Freedom, which provides an annual budget of $250,000 for works altering the 3.5-acre park. Each artist will also receive a $25,000 prize. 'Public art is a mirror to our times,' said the initiative's co-chair, philanthropist Agnes Gund. 'Art X Freedom speaks to the urgent need to protect freedom for all, including freedom of speech, expression and the right to dissent – values that are the bedrock of democracy and justice.' Added Allison Binns, a venture capitalist who serves as Gund's co-chair: 'Ai Weiwei is globally renowned for his provocative and thought-provoking body of work and his staunch and unwavering advocacy for human rights. We could not have found a more perfect partner or resonant project to help us introduce Art X Freedom to the world and inspire park visitors.' Camouflage will remain on view until 1 December 2025. The conservancy will announce finalists for the September 2026 installation in the fall of this year.
Khaleej Times
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei denied entry to Switzerland
Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei was barred from entering Switzerland over a lack of proper travel documents, police said on Tuesday, as the artist described being deported from Zurich airport. In a post on Instagram late on Monday, the artist indicated that he had found himself barred from entering Switzerland upon arrival from London. "I am sleeping on a bench with a blanket tonight, waiting to be deported next morning at 6:50 am," he wrote. Early on Tuesday, he posted a video showing him being driven through an all but deserted Zurich airport terminal before his departure back to London. Asked about the case, Zurich cantonal police told AFP that they had "discovered that Mr. Weiwei, as a Chinese national, did not have the necessary travel documents". "For this reason, he was denied entry into the Schengen area," Europe's open-borders zone, a spokesman said in an email. "As is common in such cases, Weiwei remained in the transit area until his return flight to the airport of origin," police said, stressing that the artist "was never arrested and was always able to move freely". The son of a poet revered by former communist leaders, 67-year-old Ai is perhaps China's best-known modern artist and helped design the famous "Bird's Nest" stadium for Beijing's 2008 Olympics. But he fell out of favour after criticising the Chinese government and was imprisoned for 81 days in 2011. He eventually left for Germany four years later. The artist, who has been living with his son in Portugal since 2019, has visited Switzerland previously to take part in cultural events and to present exhibits, with his most recent visit reportedly taking place in 2023.
